Training Log Archive: Yak

Commute. Meant to do more on return home but didnt get out again...

No time for much and busy washing clothes etc and was moving at a slow rate.

Just before Blinman to Wilpena on Mawson trail and with a few additions. Beautiful day and I took the camera along too. Thighs loved being on the bike and not walking. However any stops and starts were painful getting on and off!

Last 16 hours of rogaine. Knees and ankles survived which was amazing given the hilly and rocky nature. Heat and tired brain led to a 2 hr time in flatter nowhere land not being able to match the contours. I hadnt gone far enough and should have trusted that the track past the control actually existed!! 2 mins late back. Had left most food in car too didnt help but there were fruit and soup stops on course.

Good practice in sleep deprivation for solo 24 hr mt bike.

Heysen's country 24 hr rogaine north of Wilpena. First 8 hours was our best, then my brain got tired, as my partner Bev Lucas doesnt know / want to know a thing about maps. Started at 4pm meant only 2 hours of daylight then 12 hours of dark. By the time the sun came up I wasnt so appreciative of the scenery.

Finally found some time to do some riding!! Been chasing up uniforms..
Took pinky out thru suburbia to Anstey Hill and went up the gully tk to the top where i played in an old quarry. Then rode down to TTG end, which looked good as it had been recently burnt. Back thru suburbia dropping in on Louise and Nev George on the way. Used my headtorch at the end. Just turning legs over.

Vixen Gully Control taping again. The map again bad! Lost blood to the undergrowth.

Aust mtbike marathon champs at Avoca. Being on the last day of the hols it seemed a good idea several months out. Then I confirmed with Rowan, organiser that it was easier than the OO, "yes, the climbs are gentler, youll only have to walk about 200m."
Perhaps he meant 200m at a time, but even that wasnt right as i walked longer on occasion.

Supposed to be 93km with 3200m climb - in the Pyrenees. Av 11.9kph
Poor prep - 5/ 6 hours sleep the 3 nights beforehand, incl camping the night before. (mainly due to mtbo team who dont return stuff on time)
Drove over Sat with John and Jack Allison which was painless.

Girls 8am start was 15 mins late, which meant that the fast guys caught me at the top of the first hill, albeit 12km long and a climb equivalent to Mt Lofty or more. Having heard AJ and Grant say the last half was terrible it was difficult to push hard early on. Indulged at the fuel stops every 20km and these were the highlight, with fruit, muffins, gels, hedgehog, snakes and endura. Loved the km or so of bitumen!

Somewhere out there we hit the dreaded 15km of walking trail which was the designated single track!! Not a international standard trail as it went up and down and did little contouring as was 2 inches wide with good falls if you went off trail. Even the downs were hard to ride and the ups impossible for most. My arms and back are sore!

Missed the cutoff time for the last section by 5 mins after doing 2kms extra as the trail markers seemed to run out and I doubled back.
Then had to wait (with others) for a lift down the mt, so ended up home near 1am. Jack got 3rd in U16 and John was 5th in masters.
I won masters, a bit by default. Many DNF's and criticisms overall. AJ 6th. Thor 5th in vets. Grant 20th Merlin 15th - best SAussie, or was it Ollie?.

R knee was very dodgy. Yelped quite a lot and dint like a certain angle when clipping back in. Walk wasnt gd for it either. Found a new problem - early on L hamsting insertion in the glute was incredibly painful, and was so walking later. So whole hammy sore today - off to physio and masseur on the morrow.

A walk on the thick side.
Taping controls at Vixen Gully, so scratching head for some of time lamenting the bad mapping.
Smelt smoke and sighted a fire not far away but presumed a controlled burn. However the wind bought quite a lot of smoke my way and I was glad to finish and escape.

Got droped at Mt Compass and rode back to Pete's at Seacombe Heights via Willunga, then rail trail to McClaren Vale, Old Noarlunga, then veloway
Took longer route via Marino to Brighton then climbed back up the steep hill to top of Braeside Av. Lovely day.

Roadie ride with AHills mob from Balhannah.
Thru hilly backroads to lenswood then Lobethal and then towards Gum but turned R halfway down onto undulating road and then a few kms later L and down to main G-Birdwood rd about 2 km short of B.

While others had coffee and cake I rode to Mt Pleasant and rejoined them on way back. Then to Mt Torrens and straight ahead on a sideroad that got us out just before Charleston - then onto Balhannah.
I then rode along main rd to Hahndorf and took Ambleside rd back to B.
Saw a gd 2 bedroom house in back streets of Oakbank that I went and enquired about. May look at next week. Could be cold though.

Felt slow up hills and heavy. Must lose weight.
Doesnt look gd for this weekends race though!

Lovely sunny day. About 30 riders out but we didnt ride together. av 25.

C • Why are you looking at houses in Oakbank? 2

Fast walk along Torrens to 3rd bridge to east and looped back over the other side, Dist approx

MTBO makebelieve 4 hr team score event at Brukunga. 1:50,000 and 10m contours with road names!!
Was entered with roadie Kate Logan but her crank, pedal and chain ring fell off in w-up and was irrepairable! Kate had asked another person along, Jenny Albrecht (44 yr old ex track and roadie star) so she became my partner. Then Judith (rec mtbiker) asked to join in too, as her partner hadnt showed....
Going up the first hill Jenny's gears wouldnt work and she ended up only having 2 working!! Judith proved slow uphill. Puncture later. I dithered around on a control out west, being put off my a road sign .... Then we spent way too long finding the 3 controls in the mtbike park which was mapped wrong,,, 3 km uphill climb on a road reserve was very scenic.

Had wanted a hard hit-out prior to next week's Aus marathon champs but didnt get it... Jenny would have been quite compatible normally.

Visited National Portrait Gallery with Aimee and Elliot after riding to kindy with Oscar. Also got netti wooden no pedals bike a new tyre.
Flew back home - Was almost late getting there,
Qantas wanted to charge me for extra baggage!! . Instead I stuffed about 3kg more into my carry on bag which proved what?

It had rained about 30mm in Adelaide!!

am Majura small mtbo course emphasising small tracks. I shadowed riders. Then I gave people (and myself) an hour play time on the lovely tracks.

pm Kowen Forest.
Got permission and no to get in thru the locked gates, so able to park centrally at the toilet. Riders did a proper course with a mixture of fire roads and single tk.
I mostly went exploring on the single tracks and was disappointed as motor bikes have rutted out my fav old tracks. They have also made many new ones.

Just as we were leaving Tom L-S (Aroc) and Dave Meyer who were checking out the coming 100km Capital Punishment event. Course looks nice not ugly like the Otway!.

am East Stromlo mtbo tr (I only did half) and then rode around Stromlo while others trained nav. (16)

pm Another bigger lap of Stromlo (16) and then I rode back to Canberra Mt Village (20)

am Chasing mtbo'ers around Bruce Ridge and then a course thru AIS.
pm MTBO tr at Sparrow. Was again nice.

Cathy Hogg did a great physio session that night and Jase was quite good on the mental prep stuff.

Bruce Ridge - initially putting out tapes and doing some map corrections.
Some excellent tracks in such a small area, though mostly illegal but thankfully mapped on the foot o map.
A section had been burnt and signs said to keep out due to falling trees. I responsibly didnt put my course thru there but did several laps myself as it was beaut.

Bike riding with 2 and 4 year old after that!
Tried to explain the idea of sleeping an extra hour for daylight saving end but they didnt understand and we were awoken at 4.30am and "lost" our extra hours sleep.

Sparrow Hill - Canberra. My most fav mt bike area. Putting out tapes for a tr exercise. Had to totally redesign my course on the go due to logging!
Did 2 runs of 'bobsleigh" - beautiful!
Big blow up alligator in the dam was a leftover from the Mont event last weekend.
Finished at 5pm in semi darkness and seemingly stalked by numerous kangaroos.

Early am had been to Majura and encouraged on some of my 24 hr solo buddies. Wished I had got organised to do it now, but mtbo duties took precedence. Jason English did 49 x 9.1 km laps and Jess Douglas about 37, with both pushed by several riders quite close.

Finally got a long ride in, albeit not hilly.
Started late, collecting Shaun en route.
Aim was to ride all the Riverton trails and we did, despite starting after 1pm.
Initially did lake trail (1.5km) and then Peters Hill trail (34+) adding up to 40 after missing a turnoff and also going up and back to Peters Hill ridge. Took 2.14. PH was all on dirt roads - uphill gradually out. Passed many homesteads and cemeteries.. Visited Heysen trail's Marschall's Hut which was in a nice gully with good views down to crops below. Cemetery with 14 Marschalls and others was 100m below hut, then another cemetery 1 km away and another 2 about 2 kms further away!!

Then did Macaw ck trail (13km) - Western tk was more interesting.
Then took the Rattler trail (Railtrail with good surface), diverting into Rhynie (small hamlet celebrating 150 yrs this weekend) and exploring the back street. Back onto the rattler and had to hurry as time was short. Got to end at Auburn (passed 4 other riders) but no shops open which meant I got a bit thirsty. Cogwebs bike shop employs "bikeman" Gavin Nugent for repairs now, according to the shop window sign. I wondered where he had got to! 38 kms for 2 hrs.

Rode hard back to Riverton sl uphill and into a headwind. After 6 km we diverted off 'the rattler" onto back roads just for a change of scenery, and these later became the Mawson. Took in the "Lookout trail" near the end.
Lookout is just a view from a knoll and at main road junction was yet another cemetery. 1 hr for 20km.

Tennis comp happening in Riverton. C Pk looked pleasant.
"Tis Good Friday. Greedy AFL now want to play footy on this day. Rugby already do. Nice to keep a few days for family time. There are enough footy widows and fat couch potatoes from footy as it is.

Multiple ph calls meant no training, so I read a very good book, "Blood Moon" by Gary Disher as compensation. A thriller set in Victoria